Mosses act as pollution indicators.
Mosses have been used as pollution indicator from decades.
Flash Points:
Delicate mosses found on rocks and trees in cities around the world can be used to measure the impact of atmospheric change and could prove a low-cost way to monitor urban pollution, according to Japanese scientists.
Mosses are common plants and can be used as potential bioindicators.
The “bioindicator” responds to pollution or drought-stress by changing shape, density or disappearing, allowing scientists to calculate atmospheric alterations. These could also reflect changes in the ecosystem.
This method is very cost effective and important for getting information about atmospheric conditions.
Humid cities where moss thrives could benefit most from using bryophytes (moss– as bioindicators.
These mosses could be monitored in their natural environment or cultivated.
Effect of nitrogen pollution: According to Japanese scientists drought stress occurs in mosses in areas with high level of nitrogen.
What is a bioindicator?
A bioindicator is any species (an "indicator species") or group of species whose function, population, or status can reveal the qualitative status of the environment.
What is Moss?
Mosses are small flowerless plants that typically grow in dense green clumps or mats often in damp or shady locations. The individual plants are usually composed of simple leaves that are generally only one cell thick attached to stem that may be branched or unbranded and has only a limited role in conducting water and nutrients. Mosses belong to the division Bryophyta.